Throughout the month of March, ICBL members in dozens of countries will visit U.S. embassies to call on the United States to join the Mine Ban Treaty immediately. Here are some personal messages from campaign members to the Obama Administration.

Even though I am grown up, I often cry after waking up from a dream of having two legs, running and playing happily in the field with friends. I know for me it is just a dream but I want this dream to be a true one for others, especially for children living in mine-affected countries like Cambodia. So the U.S. I beg you, you are great people and you can help me as a landmine survivor to build a real dream, to save the lives and limbs of others by joining the Mine Ban Treaty. Thank you so much for all you do for clearing mines and helping victims. Do one more thing: stop mines from ever being produced or used again! -- Song Kosal, ICBL Youth Ambassador, Cambodia Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munitions, Cambodia

Millions of landmines and other explosives are buried in the soil of my country. Thousands of my countrymen have been killed and disabled by these weapons. Many more still live with the daily threat of being killed or injured. These weapons brought us nothing but devastation and poverty. As an Iraqi citizen I am calling on the U.S. - Iraq's closest ally - to join the Mine Ban Treaty and put an end to this terrible weapon. -- Sardar Sidiq Abdulkarim, Kurdistan Organization for Rehabilitation of the Disabled, Iraq

Through my work, I have talked with families affected by mines in numerous countries. For the people living in fear of these weapons, for themselves or for their children, the unacceptable nature of antipersonnel landmines is pretty straightforward. Now, when I talk in public about the landmine issue one of the first questions people ask is whether the U.S. has joined the Mine Ban Treaty. Sadly, many people are not surprised that the answer is no. However, they sometimes are surprised to find that the U.S. hasn't used these weapons since before the treaty was agreed. So the U.S. follows the treaty's lead, but refuses to join anyway? Joining the treaty would put the U.S. in a strong principled position and would really increase the pressure on the few other states that remain outside. -- Richard Moyes, Action On Armed Violence, United Kingdom

It's been nearly fourteen years since the Mine Ban Treaty came into existence. Countries that appeared difficult to lobby have joined the treaty. To me as survivor, and to the many survivors all over the world, we take it as a great step towards total elimination of antipersonnel mines. Yet the U.S. Government, known for its stand on causes for the betterment of mankind, continues to be evasive when it comes to addressing the issue of antipersonnel mines. Is it taking the Mine Ban Treaty as something of less importance? Has the U.S. not experienced the casualties and injuries caused by antipersonnel mines in its areas of operations? Hear us and take a positive move. Help prevent new victims and support the thousands of victims around the world. -- Margaret Arach-Orech, ICBL Ambassador, Uganda Landmine Survivors' Association, Uganda

A mine took both my legs and cut my dreams short when I was a teenager. Now I have to use a wheelchair 'to walk'. My country went through a long civil war that left dozens of thousands of people dead and injured, many by mines. I am happy that my country has joined the Mine Ban Treaty. But we want all Americas and all the world to be free of landmines. And this is why we want the U.S. to join the treaty now. The U.S. has many times proven its leadership and support to humanitarian causes and now is the time it can and should prove it again. Using mines for defense purposes is not effective and causes only pain and poverty. We do not want these anymore! --
Jesus Martinez, Fundación Red de Sobrevivientes, El Salvador